The village of Stavrochori OR Stavrohori in the southeast of the island of Crete

Stavrochori is one of the mountain villages in the district of Lassithi in the eastern part of Crete. The name means "village of the cross." Stavrochori can be reached over the winding road that leads up to the hills and mountains from Koutsouras. On your way you'll see the Agios Fanourios chapel and after that a path leading up to the Agios Konstantinos church and a 30 meter high waterfall. The road runs zigzagging through Stavrochori and then goes to the net villages Lapithos and Chrisopigi.

Stavrochori is a village of some size and is apparently it is along a bus route, because there are several bus shelters along the way. On approach from a distance you can already see the big yellow church of the village rising above the houses. At the beginning of the village there is a small kafenion where a few men kindly say hello to us, but after that it makes the impression of being an almost deserted village. As we walk through it towards the church and then walk through the streets we actually see close to nobody.

Most houses in Stavrochori make a run down impression. Here and there doors are open and you can see old furniture in the semi-collapsed houses. These are then interspersed again with a single house that has been beautifully restored. Many of the houses in the village are for sale, both the ruins and the restored ones. The silence in the village is strange when you consider that it was once the most populous village of the region and the administrative centre (now Koutsouras). Most residents moved 7 kilometers down to live in the village of Koutsouras.

The houses which are are apparently inhabited have pots with flowers in front of them and you can see lemon trees, bougainvillas, figs and grapes that grow in bushes and have climbed up the houses of the narrow streets. In some places, especially down in the village and at the church located higher up, there is a beautiful view of the sea.